Motors, which are widely used all over the world in many instruments, come in various sizes and operational mode categories. The classic division of electric motors has been that of DC type's vs. AC types. A typical AC motor consists of an outside stationary stator having coils supplied with AC current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor attached to the output shaft that is given a torque by the rotating field.
The ongoing trend toward electronic control clutters the distinction, as modern drivers have moved the commutator out of the motor shell. For this new breed of motors, driver circuits are relied upon to generate sinusoidal AC drive currents or any other waveforms of desired shape. The two best examples are: the brushless DC motor, and the stepping motor, both being polyphase AC motors requiring external electronic control.
Conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy by a motor via electromagnetic induction force is reverse to the operation of an electrical generator converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Inasmuch as a motor and a generator reciprocate conversion of mechanical and electrical energy, based on physics principles there is a substantial correlation between the operation of an electric motor and an electrical generator.
The interrelation between electrical to mechanical energy conversion and the inverse mechanical to electrical energy conversion, has led electric motor developers throughout the years, to design electric motors with configurations adaptable to operate as electrical generators.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,082 enclosed herein by reference, discloses a device such as an electric motor, an electric generator, or a regenerative electric motor includes a rotor arrangement and a stator arrangement. The stator arrangement has a dielectric electromagnet housing and at least one energizable electromagnet assembly including an overall amorphous metal magnetic core. The overall amorphous metal magnetic core is made up of a plurality of individually formed amorphous metal core pieces. The dielectric electromagnet housing has core piece openings formed into the electromagnet housing for holding the individually formed amorphous metal core pieces in positions adjacent to one another so as to form the overall amorphous metal magnetic core. The device further includes a control arrangement that is able to variably control the activation and deactivation of the electromagnet using any combination of a plurality of activation and deactivation parameters in order to control the speed, efficiency, torque, and power of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,233 enclosed herein by reference, discloses a device such as an electric motor, an electric generator, or a regenerative electric motor includes a rotor arrangement and a stator arrangement. The stator arrangement has a dielectric electromagnet housing and at least one energizable electromagnet assembly including an overall amorphous metal magnetic core. The overall amorphous metal magnetic core is made up of a plurality of individually formed amorphous metal core pieces. The dielectric electromagnet housing has core piece openings formed into the electromagnet housing for holding the individually formed amorphous metal core pieces in positions adjacent to one another so as to form the overall amorphous metal magnetic core. The device further includes a control arrangement that is able to variably control the activation and deactivation of the electromagnet using any combination of a plurality of activation and deactivation parameters in order to control the speed, efficiency, torque, and power of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,974 enclosed herein by reference, discloses a synchronous AC motor has a stator with stator poles arranged as a plurality of circumferentially extending stator pole groups, with each stator pole group having a pair of corresponding circumferentially extending loop-configuration stator windings disposed adjacent on either side or a single such winding disposed adjacent at one side, adjacent stator pole groups being mutually circumferentially displaced by a fixed amount corresponding to a specific electrical phase angle. Applying respective polyphase AC voltages to the windings produces a rotating magnetic field, such that currents of mutually opposite direction flow in each pair.
Thus there is still a long felt need for an efficient electric motor which maximizes mechanical power output for a give physical size by utilizing a comparable generator configuration.